Nanofiber scaffolding helps skin grow to heal burns

Filed in archive Medical on July 4, 2006

A team of researchers at the University of Sheffield has developed a dissolvable scaffold for growing new areas of skin, according to a university press release:

This ultra-fine, 3-dimensional scaffold, which is made from specially developed polymers, looks similar to tissue paper but has fibers 100 times finer. Before it is placed over a wound, the patient's skin cells are introduced and attach themselves to the scaffold, multiplying until they eventually grow over it. When placed over the wound, the scaffold dissolves harmlessly over six to eight weeks, leaving the patient's skin cells behind.

"Previous attempts to find better ways of encouraging skin cell growth have used chemical additives and other elaborate techniques to produce scaffolds," said Professor Tony Ryan, from the University of Sheffield's Department of Chemistry and who is leading the team, "but their success has been limited. We've found that skin cells are actually very 'smart' - it's in their DNA to sort themselves into the right arrangement. They just need a comparatively uncomplicated scaffold (and each other) to help them grow in a safe, natural way." (photo South Dakota School of Mines and Technology)